It’s time for three aging elephants at Toronto Zoo to finally pack their trunks and head into the sunset of their retirement years in sunny California.

Apparently, a Jumbo jet just isn’t big enough.

The three pensioner pachyderms — Toka, Thika and Iringa — will be airlifted to the West Coast aboard a Royal Canadian Air Force C-17.

Armed Forces officials met this week with representatives from Zoocheck, an organization that enables these kinds of difficult animal transfers. A decision from Defence Minister Peter MacKay is imminent and the Toronto Sun has learned it’s anticipated that once the expected approval comes through, Operation Dumbo Drop will swing into action and the elephants will be moved almost immediately.

Zoocheck had originally asked the Armed Forces to transport the animals to California, because no other organization has a plane big enough to accommodate the massive animals.

“Airlifting the elephants would take about 20 hours, so within a day, the elephants could be at their new home,” explained Barb Cartwright, CEO of Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, which has been active in pushing for the move.

If they go by overland by truck, it will be a four- to five-day journey — and about 72 hours of motion. That would put huge stress on the aging animals, she explained.

The cost of the airlift is estimated to be in the $500,000-$700,000 range, but Canadian taxpayers won’t pay a cent. Former game show host Bob Barker has pledged $850,000 through his elephant rescue foundation to pay for the airlift — so the price is right.

The animals will be transported in giant crates and zookeepers are already training the elephants so they’re familiar with the crates when it’s time for lift-off.

Other elephants have been successfully airlifted to the same sanctuary. Maggie, an Alaskan elephant, was successfully airlifted to Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) in San Andreas.

Toronto Zoo said it will end its elephant program after city council voted 31-4 in October 2011 to send the animals to California. While voting to move the animals, the city provided no funding to pay for the move.

The elephants became political pawns recently, as some councillors started to balk at moving them.

Barker has long been a champion for pachyderm rights. His PAWS sanctuary has been described as “elephant paradise.”

The animal protection charity Zoocheck has been instrumental in organizing the jumbo airlift with the help of St. Catharines MP Rick Dykstra, who was concerned about the fate of the elephants. He helped stickhandle the airlift through the federal government — and actually managed to get Toronto council and the federal government to work together for a change.

A small but vocal group on council and at the zoo have opposed the transfer.

“This is an opportunity for the City of Toronto and the federal government to work together. We have done so steadfastly over the last little while,” Dykstra said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

“It’s a positive step to be able to see how we can assist and work together in this way for the welfare of the animals.”

Talk about a flying circus. This week has seen two pandas fly into Toronto’s zoo. Now the elephants are flying out.

I’m not sure the two are related but has anyone else noticed how the two pandas, Er Shun and Da Mao, on loan from China, bear a very strong resemblance to Councillor Doug and Mayor Rob Ford?

It’s time for three aging elephants at Toronto Zoo to finally pack their trunks and head into the sunset of their retirement years in sunny California.

Apparently, a Jumbo jet just isn’t big enough.

The three pensioner pachyderms — Toka, Thika and Iringa — will be airlifted to the West Coast aboard a Royal Canadian Air Force C-17.

Armed Forces officials met this week with representatives from Zoocheck, an organization that enables these kinds of difficult animal transfers. A decision from Defence Minister Peter MacKay is imminent and the Toronto Sun has learned it’s anticipated that once the expected approval comes through, Operation Dumbo Drop will swing into action and the elephants will be moved almost immediately.

Zoocheck had originally asked the Armed Forces to transport the animals to California, because no other organization has a plane big enough to accommodate the massive animals.